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In 1219, the sultan Malik al-Kamil received St. Francis of Assisi in Damietta and posed to him a question: “Your Lord teaches in the Gospels that you should not return evil for evil nor refuse your mantle to someone who wants to take your tunic. Therefore, you Christians should not invade our lands.”

To which the Blessed Francis replied: “I think you have not read the whole Gospel. Elsewhere, indeed, it is said: ‘If you eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.’ With that Jesus wanted to teach us that when a man has a relative, however beloved he must be, even if he was as dear as the apple of our eyes, if he tempted us to turn away from the faith and love of our God we should be resolved to separate, alienate and eradicate him from us. For all this, Christians act according to justice when they invade your lands and fight you, for you blaspheme the name of Christ and fight to take away from His religion as many as you can. However, if you want to know, confess and worship the Creator and Redeemer of the world, I will love you as myself.’ All those present were taken with admiration by his response

1 comments:

In 1219, it was easy to define the faith in terms of heroic saints such as the man from Assisi. Today, it is very difficult in light of efforts by PF to create and mold a new religion. He has made it very plain that he believes that Islam is just "a horse of a different color".

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About the Author

Matthew is a Third Order Dominican living in Chicago, Illinois. Matthew's personal interests include seeking a preservation of traditional Catholicism as practiced before the Second Vatican Council. He exclusively attends the Traditional Latin Mass. Matthew is the author of several books including "How to Create a Catholic Blog," "Understanding the Precepts of the Church," and "Eschatology: The Catholic Study of the Four Last Things." He spends his leisure time traveling, teaching, writing, and enjoying culture.